A Cooperative Research on the governance of radioactive waste management

COWAM 2 Final Reports

Wednesday 25 July 2007

COWAM 2 is a research project that brought together over the course of three years a diverse group of stakeholders, to investigate the range of governance issues in radioactive waste management. You will find here the reports of their work together.

A major aspect of the COWAM 2 project is its “cooperative research” nature. A specific methodology was developed and tested as part of the project. This methodology is a core element and result of the project.

COWAM 2 comprised four thematic cooperative research groups. Each group brought together some thirty local and national stakeholders six times over the course of the project, supported by research-contractors with the task of documenting and developing the research outcomes. Each group provided specific analysis and recommendations:

WorkPackage 1

The “local democracy” group shared knowledge about local committee building, with the aim of identifying best practice in applying local democracy to nuclear related issues in Europe. Examples of best practice are proposed which reflect the diversity of experience found in different European contexts.

The group on “influence of local actors on the national decision-making process” clarified (i) effective mechanisms for local players to influencing national decision-making processes, (ii) key conditions for legitimate decision making in terms of the relationships and distribution of power between local and national players at different stages of the decision processes.

The group on “quality of the decision-making process” (Work Package 3) worked out recommendations for designing and implementing a robust decision-making process or for judging an existing decision-making process. The recommendations take the form of propositions to assist stakeholders in making decisions or evaluations.

The purpose of the “long term governance” group (Work Package 4) was to identify, discuss and analyse the institutional, ethical, economic and legal considerations raised by the existence of a site for long term waste storage or deep geological disposal. The main issues were: ethical stakes, continuity and sustainability of surveillance, and efficiency of financing schemes.

Additionally, participants were involved in three annual National Sessions where they had the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the ongoing thematic governance research in their national and local contexts.